COSATU statement on COSATU/NUM’s submission on
the Minerals Development Draft Bill

COSATU and NUM have made a joint submission on the
Minerals Development Draft Bill. They urge government to
resist the hysterical campaign of the Chamber of Mines to try
to blackmail the government into amending the Draft Bill in
favour of the mining companies so they can continue their
unfettered exploitation of the country’s mineral resources.

COSATU and the NUM are broadly supportive of the
proposed legislation, particularly the contention that mineral
rights are a domain of the state and not private interests. We
do, however, have certain concerns with the proposed
legislation and believe that it needs considerable strengthening
and some amendments.
· The Draft Bill does not set out a clear role for the
state in the industry, particularly in productive mining.
The legislation, and government policy more broadly,
needs to provide for a more active direct role for the
state.
· The Draft Bill should explicitly set out to transform the
ownership and control of an industry which is
currently owned by a small, predominantly white
group. It should reduce monopolisation and provide
for direct ownership and control by mineworkers.
· The Draft Bill needs to be far more “people-centred”,
dealing with issues of direct concern to workers and
surrounding communities, such as living and working
conditions and health and safety.
· In the interests of transparency and public
participation, there should be better provision of
information to communities affected by mining
projects.
· To better guide decision-making on the granting of
prospecting, mining and other rights, applicants should
provide more information. The benchmarks for
evaluating applications should be clearer and include
employment, miners’ living and working conditions, a
social plan for mineworkers, their families and affected
communities, and the contribution the applicant will
make to the local and national economies.
· There needs to be consultation and negotiation with
affected workers over the possible curtailment of
mining operations.
· Consideration should be given to reducing the periods
for mining rights;
· Provision should be made for timely state intervention
to deal with mismanaged mining operations.
· The Draft Bill should set up a Permanent Statutory
Commission on Mining and set out what its
responsibilities should be.
· The government must ensure there are no loopholes
for undermining the objectives of the legislation.
· In the proposals in the diamonds and petroleum
chapters of the Draft Bill, there should be stronger
regulations, including around conflict diamonds and
broader obligations on petroleum exploration rights
holders.
· Lastly we raise sub-contracting and outsourcing,
working and living conditions, small-scale mining and
health and safety standards as issues of concern we
believe the legislation should also speak to.
The Draft Bill must promote, more actively, mineral
beneficiation in South Africa and create jobs downstream.
There needs to be a tightening of provisions in order to give
effect to the ‘use it or lose it’ principle. Mineral rights that are
not used benefit no-one. A retainer who does not use his or
her rightsshould lose them for someone who can exploit them
for the benefit of society and its economy.

We are embarking on a Nedlac process in which we hope to
reach some agreement amongst stakeholders on the
legislation. We are also pursuing bilateral engagement with the
Ministry.

For the full submission, please visit our website on
http://www.cosatu.org.za/docs/2001/mddb.htm

For further information please phone Fiona Tregenna,
COSATU Parliamentary Office, on 021 461 3835

Siphiwe Mgcina
COSATU Spokesperson

[email protected]
082-821-7456
339-4911

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